DOVER — If there was a window for moral victories for a young Marshwood/Traip hockey team, you can consider it closed.

Trying to get back above the .500 mark Monday night, Marshwood saw its early 2-0 lead slip away in a 3-2 Western Maine Class A loss to Portland/Deering at the Dover Ice Arena, one that left coach Eric Royal frustrated, upset and a little bit perplexed.

Antonio DiPietro scored the game-winner for Portland (4-2) midway through the third period. The Hawks (4-5) had some great chances in the last few minutes, buzzing after gaining back-to-back power plays, but couldn’t produce the equalizer.

“It’s disappointing,” said Royal. “We don’t have the will power, the drive to win a hockey game like that. They outhustled us. They outworked us. That’s why they won the hockey game.”

The Hawks, who don’t have a senior on their roster, were playing without forwards Drew Hale, who’s missed most of the season, and second-leading scorer Seth Lawrence, who suffered a concussion in a win against Kennebunk last week.

Junior center Peter Lajeunesse had a goal and an assist for Marshwood, which also got a goal from Jake Scremin and a solid game in goal from Tyler Gagnon.

In a competitively wide-ranging Western Maine Class A, it was only the fourth game of the year for the Hawks that was decided by fewer than five goals. Of those four, they’ve won two and lost two, though their coach feels that mark should be better.

“I’m tired of, ‘We’re young,’” said Royal, who’s taken the team to the regional semifinals in each of the last two years. “We’re halfway through the season. If they can’t play at the high school level we’ve got problems. And some of that is my fault.”

Mike Fuller and Caleb Fraser scored second-period goals for the Bulldogs, who carried the play in the final two periods until the shorthanded situations left them on their heels at the end.

With Ben Barnes serving the second of two straight penalties on his team and the clock ticking down toward two minutes, Jake Cagnina made a nice rush but his backhand from the right side sailed over the net.

Gagnon was pulled with a minute left and defenseman Joe Spinney teed up a shot from the left point that was deflected just wide. Twice goalie Jon Gatti made stops on scrums on the doorstep before the final horn sounded.

“That was a tense last couple minutes,” said Portland coach Chad Hart. “Those guys played very hard and had some good chances. We basically survived those last five or six minutes.”

The teams skated evenly in the first period, but the Hawks took a 2-0 lead. Lajeunesse opened the scoring with his team-high 10th goal barely two minutes in, getting sprung by Brandon Cagnina on a breakaway and snapping a wrister over the left shoulder of Gatti.

Working on the power play for the first time late in the period, Lajeunesse carried the puck across the blueline on the left and dropped it for Jake Cagnina who, in turn, left it for Scremin. Scremin’s shot had just enough pace to find the far corner and the Hawks led 2-0.

“Then they just started winning battles,” said Royal. “You win enough of the little battles, you’re going to win the hockey game.”

The second period was all Portland. After killing off a penalty midway through, Fuller got the Bulldogs on the board when he took a pass from Zach Luce in the high slot and wrested one into the top corner.

Fraser squared things late in the period, setting up in front to chip in a centering pass from Barnes, who was in deep on the right.

“The first period was a tough one for us,” said Hart. “We came out pretty sluggish. But they came back strong in the second period and we needed that.”

The game-winner came when Luigi Grimaldi beat a defenseman on the right and backhanded a puck into traffic that DiPietro got a stick on and scored.

A close game for Marshwood. But not the final result it wanted.

“It’s disappointing and frustrating to watch what happened in the second and third period,” said Royal.